<nettime> RELEASE EL HADJ MOMAR DIOP, a 'sans papiers of France

[fls@JFF.crg.de (Florian Schneider)]

*********CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN ************************
RELEASE EL  HADJ MOMAR DIOP  - a 'SANS-PAPIER' OF FRANCE*********


'SANS-PAPIERS EN LUTTE'
COORDINATION NATIONALE
22, rue Pajol, 75018 PARIS, France
Tel./Fax (+33) 1 46 07 16 19
http://bok.net/pajol
E-mail : pajol@bok.net

Paris, May 30th, 1997

On May 14th, 1997, the National Coordinating Committee of "Sans-Papiers"
Collectives organized a national day of action ending in a high-profile
demonstration in Paris, as we had already done on September 12th, 1996.
This time, we decided on a symbolic occupation of the big soccer Stadium
under construction for the 1988 World Cup soccer championship, in order
to focus national and international attention on the following points:
1/ By our status as "sans papiers" (paperless, undocumented immigrants),
we have focused the attention of the whole world on the hypocrisy of
France, which is incapable of living up to the principles of hospitality
and courtesy that are the rules of major international soccer events but
nevertheless has the pretension to host the World Cup in 1988.
2/ We wish to tell the whole world that the construction of this
Super-Stadium is the fruit of the labor of several undocumented
immigrant workers, "Sans-Papiers", who have been shamelessly exploited
by the big names of the French construction industry. We also want the
world to know that these "employers" of paperless immigrant labor, who
are household names in France and are well-known internationally, have
only very rarely been troubled by government inspectors or by the
police. 
These two arguments were the reasons for our choice of the new Stadium
as venue for our peaceful demonstration.
Our comrade, El Hadj Momar Diop is no ordinary "Sans-Papiers". He has
been living in France for 22 years and is father of a child aged 3 years
old; he has continued his studies and has an Advanced Education Diploma
(DEA) in English. He has played an important role in his own
"Sans-Papiers" Collective and as a member of the Secretariat of the
National Coordinating Committee. In 22 years, he has committed no crime
or common law offence. During the Day of Action at the new Stadium, some
plain clothes policemen from the Seine-St. Denis Criminal Department
aggressed him, insulted him, handcuffed him and then accused him of
striking a policeman. He was judged on May 16th, 1997 at Bobigny High
Court. He explained in clear French how he had been aggressed by the
policemen. Witnesses of the scene, including a film director, an
engineer and an interior decorator told how the police targeted,
provoked and beat up El Hadj Momar Diop.
However, in a French court, the word of the accused and of eye-witnesses
does not weigh heavily in the balance against the word of a policeman.
El Hadj Momar Diop was condemned to 4 months in prison followed by
deportation and a ban of 10 years from French soil. To prevent the
French courts becoming mere annexes of the Ministry of the Interior
(Home Office), we are launching an international campaign for the
RELEASE of El Hadj Momar Diop.

Please send protest faxes based on the text below:

<APPEAL FOR THE RELEASE OF EL HADJ MOMAR DIOP<

<We, the undersigned, are indignant at the police violence perpetrated
against El Hadj Momar Diop and the racist insults to which he was
subjected while demonstrating peacefully in front of the "Stade de
France" in support of the demand for legal papers for the "Sans-Papiers"
on May 14th, 1997:
<* We are outraged at his sentence, condemning him to 4 months in prison
and a ban of 10 years from French soil, pronounced by the court of
Bobigny on May 16th.
<* We demand the immediate release of El Hadj Momar Diop and also demand
that he be granted legal residence papers.
<The Judiciary must not be allowed to become an Annex of the Ministry of
the Interior.

<Signed:
<Jeanne Labrune, Gerard Mordillat, Serge Le Perron, Jean Henri Roger,
Lucas Belvaux, Pascal Kane, Jean Narboni, Leon Schwartzenberg, Claire
Simon

To the Minister of the Interior: Fax: ++ 33 1 43 59 89 50
To the Paris Police Commissioner: Fax: ++ 33 1 40 51 75 82
To the Bobigny Police Commissioner: Fax ++ 33 1 48 30 22 88

Please send a copy of your faxes to the National Coordinating Committee:
Coordination Nationale des Sans-Papiers
22, rue Pajol, 75018 PARIS, France
Tel./Fax: ++ 33 1 46 07 16 19
E-mail : pajol@bok.net
visit the 'Sans-papiers' WEB site : http://bok.net/pajol

Please also send messages of support and any financial assistance you
can give to:

Mr El Hadj Momar DIOP
Numero d'Ecrou: 265 267 F
Batiment D 3
Maison d'Arret des Hommes de Fleury Merogis
7, avenue des Peupliers
91700 Ste Genevieve des Bois
France


For the Coordinating Committee
The Secretariat





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